


Like Real People Do

by StellinaGatsby



Series: Like Real People Do [4]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Angst, Charon & Sarah are BrOTPs, Charon Being a Shit, Coitus Interruptus, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Ghoul Sex, Gob’s Body Image Issues, Love Confessions, Mild Angst, Mutual Masturbation, Post-Coital Cuddling, Relationship Negotiation, Sarah's Abandonment Issues, Smut, The Lone Wanderer Has Abandonment Issues, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, excessive use of ellipses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:33:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21841486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellinaGatsby/pseuds/StellinaGatsby
Summary: Sarah and Gob have a conversation about their relationshipGood things happen
Relationships: Gob/Female Lone Wanderer, Gob/Lone Wanderer
Series: Like Real People Do [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1370947
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	1. Just Put Your Sweet Lips on My Lips

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place some time after the end of the base game
> 
> Chapter 1 is the fluff; Chapters 2 & 3 are the smut

The door slammed downstairs. It sounded like Charon, but Sarah rolled her chair out of her office to see.

Charon was already stomping up the stairs. His expression was just the positive side of neutral, which for him was practically beatific.

“Hey, babe,” she said to him. “Where’ve you been?”

He stopped and his face sank into his normal scowl. “Nowhere,” he said, looking away from her and heading into his room.

“Well, that’s a metaphysical miracle right there. Seriously though.”

Charon gave her a long-suffering sigh, turning around in his doorway to face her again. “I went to see Moira.”

“You guys have been hanging out a lot lately.”

“I guess,” he said, irritation slipping into his tone.

Sarah smirked. “You got a little crush, babe?”

He turned into his room and slammed the door.

“Oh! Sweetie! Come on!” She got out of her chair and went to his door. “I was only teasing.”

“Fuck off, Sarah!”

“Charon!” She drew out the second syllable of his name. “Sweetheart. I’m sorry. It’s okay if you have a crush on Moira. I think it’s sweet.” She paused and thought of something. “And it’s okay if you don’t. But it’s none of my business, is it?”

Charon reopened the door. His scowl didn’t look angry. “It’s _not_ your business. And for the record, you shouldn’t be teasing anyone about crushes they do or do not have.”

Sarah scowled back at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Glass houses, Sarah.”

She stared at him for a few more moments. She had no idea what he was talking about.

Charon sighed. “Are you ever going to tell Gob that you’re in love with him?”

Her jaw dropped. “I’m not in love with him,” she stuttered.

“Bullshit, Sarah.”

“I’m not.”

Charon eyed her. He backed up into his room and closed the door slowly but purposefully in her face.

Sarah was left standing in the hallway dumbfounded. She didn’t know what to do; she felt like her brain was misfiring.

She went back to her office and tried to go back to what she had been doing, synthesizing clonazepam, but she kept forgetting what she was doing and maybe it wasn’t smart to be handling toxic chemicals like that.

She switched to reading the journals on endocrinology she had just gotten, but she couldn’t focus. She was distracted and couldn’t sit still.

She looked for something else to do. She went downstairs and put away the dishes Wadsworth had just finished washing. She went back upstairs and got the sheets off her bed and put them into the wash before bringing a clean set upstairs and putting them on her bed.

Wadsworth hovered behind her, trying to get her to leave whatever task she had just started for him. She tried to explain that she was trying to keep busy and she wanted to do these things, but Wadsworth didn’t seem to understand that. Finally, after being shooed away from a dozen different chores, she asked him to get her some water for a bath and went into the bathroom. 

She was halfway through taking out her braids - she thought it would be nice to leave her curls loose for a while; Gob had said he liked her curls - when she realized. She gasped, hiccuped, and felt her face start to burn.

Tears started sliding down her cheeks. She sank to the floor, holding onto the edge of the sink for support. She _couldn’t_ admit her feelings to Gob. She knew her track record with relationships and she absolutely could not pursue a relationship with Gob. It would only end in disaster. She didn’t know when she had made that decision, but it didn’t feel like a new one.

She absolutely under no circumstances could ever pursue a relationship with the man she was in love with. It could not happen.

Sarah couldn’t breathe. She started hyperventilating. 

She wanted Gob here right now so she could hold him. She wanted to cuddle with him, wrapped around each other in bed, like they did almost every night she was in Megaton. She missed him desperately when they were out of town; snuggling with Charon was fine, but it wasn’t the same.

Her crying had become painful, making her face and throat hurt. She slowly tipped over onto the floor and curled into a ball. 

She gasped. Her sinuses ached, her nose leaked onto her lip. She sat up and blew her nose on the hand towel.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was puffy and red. Her eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Her hair was only half done. She hiccuped again and went back to taking out her braids, still sniffling occasionally or breaking down in tears.

She finished her hair, took a shower, washed her face. She went upstairs and knocked on Charon’s door.

He didn’t answer. She knocked again. “Charon?” she whispered. Her voice still sounded thick and hoarse from crying. “Can I come in?” She cracked the door open.

Charon was asleep in his pajama pants and hoodie. “Charon?” she whispered again.

She slid into bed next to him. He woke with a quiet snuffle, but didn’t startle.

“Sarah,” he yawned. He pulled her into his chest. She slipped her arm inside the open zipper of his hoodie.

“You were right. I am in love with Gob,” she choked. “And I fucking hate you for it.”

“You love me, Sarah.”

“I do love you. But you’ve ruined my life.”

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

She could feel her eyes welling up again. “What am I gonna do, Charon?”

“You’ve got to tell him.” He was rubbing circles across her back like she did for him during panic attacks.

“I can’t tell him.”

“Why not?”

“Because people I love leave me. Because I can’t lose Gob the way I’ve lost everyone else.”

“I didn’t leave you. And Gob won’t either.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know I’m never going to leave you. And I know Gob is never going to leave you.”

“You _can’t_ know that.”

Charon sighed. He rubbed a few more circles across her back and then pushed her away.

“Go get in your own bed. Gob’ll be wondering where you are.”

On Sunday afternoon, Sarah and Gob were lounging around the house. She had her feet in Gob’s lap as they sat on the couch, drinking tea and reading. She liked Sundays because Gob didn’t go to the bar. He had kept it closed Sundays since taking over. He liked his day off.

Charon walked purposely down the stairs and to the door.

“Where you going?” Sarah asked.

“Nowhere.”

“When you coming back?”

“Don’t know.”

“Will you be back for dinner?”

“Maybe.”

“Okay. Tell Moira I said hi.”

“Shut up.”

Sarah snickered. Charon flipped her off as he headed out the door. He stopped and turned back around.

“Hey, Gob,” he said.

Sarah felt the blood drain out of her face.

“Hmm?”

“Sarah had something she wants to talk to you about. See ya.”

He slammed the door behind him as he left. 

Sarah felt vaguely like she was going to faint. That absolute bastard.

Gob was looking at her expectantly. She looked away from him. She couldn’t do this. She could not do this.

“Sarah? Is everything okay?”

“I… Yeah, it’s fine. I…” She stopped, tried to swallow but her mouth was too dry. “I just… I don’t know how to begin.”

She looked him in the eyes again. That was a mistake. The helpless look of confusion made her want to cry. Gob had such expressive eyes; she’d always been a sucker for his eyes. That should have been her first clue that she was in love with him.

She sat up, removing her feet from his lap, and cleared her throat. Gob shifted in his seat, turning to face her.

“Um? Charon thinks…” She couldn’t say it like that; that implied that whatever Charon thought wasn’t true. She sighed. “I was giving him a hard time about how much time he’s been spending with Moira and he started giving me a hard time about… never telling you… how I feel about you.”

Gob’s brows went up. “How…? How do you feel about me?”

“I…” She felt tears filling her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why this is so hard to admit. I couldn’t even admit it to myself.”

Gob’s brows had knit together in look of deep concern, but his eyes betrayed deep and crushing pain.

“Sarah,” he whispered. “If - I don’t know - if you don’t want me around anymore, I understand.”

“No! No! That’s not it at all! I _love_ having you around. I…” The words were on the tip of her tongue, but they stuck there. She told Charon she loved him all the time, so what was the problem here?

She brushed her tears away and took a deep breath. _Stop thinking about it and just say it,_ she told herself. 

“Gob. I love you. I’m in love with you. I think I have been for a long time.”

His eyes were still full of pain but also wariness and disbelief.

“Gob?”

“I…” He looked away from her and stared into the fireplace for a long minute. “Sarah…” His voice cracked on her name. “I… What do you even see in me?”

Sarah closed her eyes. She didn’t want to cry, but she had always been easily swayed to outbursts of emotion.

“Gob, you’re one of the kindest people I know. I don’t know how you’re still so sweet. After everything you’ve been through, and I know so little of it, you’re still kind. You didn’t lose your gentleness.”

“Is that good?”

“It’s incredible. It’s my favorite thing about you.”

“Oh yeah,” he said sarcastically. “Because I have so many sparkling qualities to pick from.”

“Honestly? I have yet to find _anything_ I don’t like about you.”

He looked shocked. “Really?”

“Really.”

He didn’t have a reply for that.

“Gob? Do you… do you want to be… my boyfriend?”

His disbelief morphed into shock and then back again.

“I don’t think I’d be a very good boyfriend.”

Sarah felt dizzy. “Why not?” she asked, barely above a whisper.

“I… I’m… a Ghoul. And I just… don’t think I would be.”

“Gob, you know that you being a Ghoul has never been… it’s always been a non-issue. And… you don’t think you’d be a good boyfriend? I _know_ I suck at being a girlfriend. I have a trail of ex-flames who’ll attest to that. I’m a literal human disaster. That’s why… I wasn’t going to tell you.”

He didn’t answer, but he was looking at her so mournfully, with so much longing. “What? Never?”

She shook her head.

“That would have been a tragedy,” he said. 

Gob reached out and took her hand. “I… Sarah, I don’t think I even know how to be in a relationship anymore. It’s been decades. Literally. What… what do you want dating to be like?”

“I think it would be like what we already have. Just… with kissing and sex.”

His head jerked up to look at her.

“That is… if you _want_ kissing or sex to be part of our relationship.”

“I didn’t realize sex was an option.”

“It is very much an option. If you want it to be.”

He licked his lips. His eyes darted down to her mouth before they flicked up again. “That’s also been literal decades.”

“So… is that a yes or a no on adding sex to our relationship?”

He hesitated.

“Gob, we can be romantically involved without having sex. We can keep our relationship the way it is.” Her voice caught on the last syllable. She took a deep breath. “I don’t want to pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”

“It’s… it’s not me I’m worried about,” he whispered.

“What are you worried about?”

“Sarah. Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. Definitely yes. I’m very sure that I love you.”

“Not that. Are you sure about… having sex? I mean.” He gestured at his face. “And, yeah we sleep in the same bed, but that’s not the same as…” He swallowed hard. “You know?”

“I know. And, yes, Gob, I’m sure I want to have sex with you.”

“I, um, I’m not sure I believe you.”

“Can I prove it to you?”

“How?”

“By having sex with you. Obviously.”

“Sarah!” He sounded exasperated. “I’ve been in love with you for ages.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. I have. And I accept our relationship the way it is. I’m fine with what we have. I don’t want to lose you. But… I can’t go back. If we do this, I won’t be able to go back to being just friends or whatever we are. I couldn’t handle it.”

“I understand,” she whispered, eyes cast down to the floor.

Gob reached over and took her hand. He brought it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

“Gob...” she moaned, her voice cracking. She pulled his hand back towards her, copying his actions, kissing his knuckles. 

Gob unlaced their fingers and kissed her palm and the inside of her wrist.

Sarah shuffled closer to him. Her movement made him stop short, like he suddenly realized what he was doing. He looked up at her warily, then placed her palm against his cheek.

“Are you still sure you want to do this?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Then I’m yours. Whatever you want me to be.”

“My boyfriend?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I can be your boyfriend. Even though that makes it sound like we’re about 15.”

“Can I kiss you now?”

“Yes. _Please._ ”

Sarah’s hand went to the side of Gob’s face as she leaned in to kiss him. Their lips barely brushed, but it was everything she had wanted and it sparked an urgency in her. She leaned in to kiss him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title of work & series is also the title of a Hozier song; chapter titles are lyrics from the eponymous song.
> 
> Was the angst and fluff too much to handle? Was it everything you dreamed it could be and more?  
> Next up... Smut


	2. We Should Just Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now... the smut

Gob gasped quietly as Sarah kissed him with sudden fervor, but he kissed her back just as urgently. She pulled his lower lip between hers, then nudged her tongue against it. He opened his mouth to the kiss, allowing their tongues to meet.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d kissed someone like this - he wasn’t sure who or when it had been - but he remembered it. He still knew how to kiss and be kissed and the feelings that came with it.

Sarah climbed into his lap, straddling his hips. He felt a surge of anxiety and shame: she would be able to tell if he got a hard on. The number of times he had woken up panicked and mortified, trying to slide away from her before she noticed, had obviously had an impact. 

That didn’t matter now. They were making out. She had gotten into his lap with the intention of having sex with him. He didn’t need to worry about her noticing how excited he was. But the anxiety lingered.

Sarah kissed along his jawline towards his ear, drawing him back into the moment. He didn’t know how she knew he liked to be kissed there; attention to his jaw had always made him feel sexy and manly.

His jaw, his collarbones, his hip bones… they were all things he used to like about his appearance and were therefore places he used to like being touched. He had been tall, muscular but lean, with good bone structure; he supposed he still had good bone structure, but it was hard to see through his leathery, patchwork skin.

Sarah was kissing back down his jaw now. Gob tipped his head back, letting his eyes slide closed. Sarah started kissing down his neck, sending little flames of pleasure along his whole body. His muscles relaxed as he melted into the couch… until he realized that was the side of his neck without any skin. He tensed up again.

Sarah pulled away slightly. “You okay, baby?” she mumbled just below his ear.

“Yeah,” he answered breathlessly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just… self-conscious.”

She pulled further away, took his face in her hands, and kissed him deeply before resting their foreheads together. He reached up and covered her hands with his own.

“Gob? You’ll tell me if I do something you don’t like, right?”

“I liked it,” he whispered. “I just got self-conscious.”

“Okay. But… still. Tell me.”

He nodded. “Okay.” He cleared his throat. “I… I liked having my jaw kissed. And… and I used to like… having my collarbones kissed.”

Sarah smiled; her whole face lit up, like this information delighted her. She kissed him on the mouth again, her tongue gliding over his, then she kissed down his jaw and neck again. She pulled the collar of his tee shirt aside to kiss along his collarbone. Her teeth just barely scraped over the point where his collarbone faded into his shoulder.

Gob sucked in a sharp breath, almost a gasp. Yep, he still liked that. He put one hand on the small of Sarah’s back and the other on her thigh, pulling her towards him. He pressed her down into his lap, then pushed her away, still uneasy with her being aware of his arousal.

She tried to grind down on him, bringing on a wave of pleasure and embarrassment. 

“Do you want to take this upstairs?” she asked.

He opened his mouth to answer, but the words seemed to catch in his throat.

“I… I want…” His voice cracked. He swallowed. “Jesus, Sarah. It’s been a long time. I… Can we… Can we just keep kissing for a while?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Can there be some groping mixed in, too?” she asked. “I like having my breasts manhandled.”

He nodded. He slid one of his hands up to her breast and massaged it roughly.

She gently bit his lower lip. Gob’s free hand went to the back of Sarah’s head as he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue against hers and moaning into her mouth.

“Sarah…” Gob’s voice cracked saying her name. “I’ve been in love with you for so long. I never thought… I didn’t think...”

“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.”

“I’m glad it’s happening now. I’m… I’m glad we weren’t together before, when Moriarty was alive. This way… I know I’m doing it because it’s you and I love you, not because I want something,  _ anything _ that makes me feel okay for a little while. It’s better this way.”

Sarah leaned in to kiss him again. 

“I’ll try to make it worth the wait,” she whispered.

“Oh, Sarah. It will be.”

Their tongues and lips moved against each other in a dizzying give and take. The hand Gob had on the back of her head moved to her other breast; he squeezed them both, alternating between squeezing and pressing them into his palms.

The nervousness was quickly being eclipsed by impatience and needy desire. His hands dropped to Sarah’s hips and he pulled her tight against him. He tangled one hand in her hair again and wrapped his other arm around her waist. 

His hips twitched upwards. He wondered if she could tell he had a semi, but the thought wasn’t accompanied with embarrassment; just more lust and urgency.

Sarah pulled away, gasping for air. She rested her forehead against Gob’s. He was also breathing hard, his chest heaving against hers.

Sarah kissed him quickly a few more times while they caught their breath.

“Sarah?” Gob’s voice cracked. “I… I changed my mind. Can we…?” He paused and swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Please?”

She nodded, her forehead still against his, and slid out of his lap. She grabbed him by the hand and led him up to her bedroom - their bedroom. His heart pounded in his chest. He considered whether or not he could still back out, but no. This was what he wanted, what he hadn’t dared to wish for.

Gob flopped over into bed. He reached for Sarah, pulling her towards him.

Sarah climbed into bed after him, straddling his hips again. She ran her hands up his stomach and chest and back down again.

She tugged at the hem of his shirt. “Can I take this off?”

Gob froze, then hesitated.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Sarah said gently. She kissed his jaw and down his neck, then back up the other side. “Although, I have seen you with your shirt off before.”

“Yeah, but… that was as my doctor, not as my... girlfriend.” He whispered the last word and looked away, like he shouldn’t call her that.

She turned his face back to her and kissed him again, easing her tongue into his mouth.

“Your girlfriend is still a doctor when she’s being your girlfriend, you know. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You can keep all your clothes on if you want. Just, keep in mind… I already know what you look like, and I think you’re gorgeous.”

He scoffed.

“I do! I love you and I love everything about you. Just the way you are.”

“I know what I look like, Sarah.”

“Gob,” she said his name very seriously. “You. Are. Beautiful. You’re gorgeous.” She hesitated, unsure if she should actually say what she was thinking, but she had already told him she loved him and it had gone better than expected. “You look like the man I’m in love with.”

“Oh!”

Gob was now staring at her, eyebrows raised, lips slightly parted. Sarah didn’t know what emotion that was.

She covered his mouth with hers and ground her hips down into his.

Gob moaned into the kiss. His hands came up to rest on either side of her waist.

Sarah sat up, pulling away from the kiss. Gob leaned upwards, trying to follow her. She rolled her hips against him again. Gob squirmed beneath her.

“What do you want to do, darling?” she asked him.

He looked at her wide-eyed. “I’m not sure,” he barely breathed.

“You don’t know what you want? Or there are too many choices?”

“I want so many things.”

“Care to name some of them?”

He cringed.

“I can tell you some things I’d like to do.”

He nodded.

“I could ride you. Fuck you into the mattress. Make your eyes roll back in your head. Or you could…”

“That! That. I want you to ride me.”

Sarah smirked. “With pleasure.” She ground her hips down into his and he groaned, his hands urging her down again.

Sarah’s hands slid down his chest and his stomach before landing on his belt. “Okay?”

He nodded. “Okay.” 

Sarah struggled to get the buckle undone, but finally managed. She leaned in to kiss him again, rolling her hips against his a few more times.

Gob pushed and pulled at her hips, driving her down to meet his thrusts upwards.

Sarah pulled her shirt off and tossed it across the room.

Her hands went back to the button on Gob’s jeans. His breath hitched and she paused.

“Okay?”

He hesitated, but then nodded vigorously.

She popped the button and took hold of the zipper. She looked at him again, waiting for permission.

He nodded and she eased the zipper down. The cloth-covered bulge of his erection stuck out of his open fly. She traced her fingers along the top of his boxers.

He grabbed her wrists and she looked up at him startled. He shook his head. “No.”

“Okay.” She pulled her hands away, sliding them up his stomach and chest instead, and leaned in to kiss him again.

Gob reached for the closure on Sarah’s jeans, his fingers trembling slightly as he asked, “Yes?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

He opened the button, then paused.

“Keep going,” she urged.

He pulled her zipper down and slid his hands inside her open fly. His fingers skated over her hips to her ass and pulled her down against him as he thrust once.

Sarah started pushing her jeans over her hips. She tried to get them off one leg at a time so she didn’t have to move entirely from where she was comfortably seated in his lap, but she quickly got tangled in them. She fell over next to Gob and giggled.

Gob smiled at her. “Having some trouble?”

“You know, maybe a little.” She rolled onto her back to get the offending clothing the rest of the way off and removed her underwear while she was at it.

Gob’s sharp intake of breath drew her gaze back to him. He looked thoroughly overwhelmed.

“You okay, baby?”

He nodded, but his facial expression remained the same.

She pushed him gently onto his back again and seated herself back in his lap.

“We’re not going to do anything you’re not comfortable with, okay? You can stop me anytime.”

“That’s zero percent the issue. Just… don’t look?”

Sarah nodded. “Okay.”

Gob pushed her hips up so she was kneeling over him instead of in his lap. He slid his jeans and underwear down and then laid his hands gently on her thighs, easing her back down. 

Sarah took him in her hand, avoiding looking at what she was doing by keeping her eyes on Gob’s face, on the raw and powerful look of love and disbelief painted across his features.

She rubbed herself against his length, sharing her lubrication.

“Ready?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

Sarah sighed as she finally sank down onto his cock, a feeling of relief flooding her. She was familiar with that feeling: the satisfaction and fulfillment of finally getting the stimulation she craved. She could see the same feelings washing over Gob’s face: relief and joy, pleasure and urgent desire.

She thrust impatiently against him. She had meant for this to be all about Gob, to make him feel good and make it worth the wait, but now she was desperate for him. But surely,  _ surely  _ having her way with him would be good for him, too.

She rolled her hips against his. The slide and press and friction of him caressed her in the most incredible way, but there was something sharp and cold chafing against her backside.

“Gob? Can you push your pants down a little more? The zipper’s cutting into me.”

He complied and she thrust against him a few more times.

“Better?” he asked.

“Better. Thanks, darling.”

He nodded and set his hands on her hips again, urging her into a slow but steady rhythm. Making love to Gob brought a contentment that she hadn’t found with any of her former lovers; there was something about being with him that felt  _ right _ , that felt like this was what she had been waiting for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note added 1/3/2020:  
> What do y'all think for the next chapter? Post-coital cuddling and then a second round? Or continue with this round? Or skip to some more fluff and angst?


	3. Like Real People Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More smut, more feelings, light angst
> 
> It’s been a rough couple of weeks and that stress is getting channeled into fan fiction.  
> You’re welcome.

Gob’s eyes fluttered closed as Sarah started riding him. 

She arched her back as she thrust against him.

Gob whimpered.

Sarah stopped moving. Gob’s eyes snapped open again.

“You okay?” she asked.

He nodded.

She started working her clit, bucking her hips against Gob's.

His hands on her hips started slowly rocking her back and forth, the rhythm steadily increasing like a freight train picking up speed.

Gob had closed his eyes again; he was biting his lower lip, muffling all of his whines and gasps.

The insistent ache and sense of urgency building between Sarah’s thighs was growing in intensity.

“God, Gob. That’s so good.”

She leaned back and kept rocking her hips against him. She needed a little more lube; the fingers on her clit were starting to drag almost painfully, but she was so close and she knew she’d lose her momentum if she stopped to dig around in her nightstand drawer. She spit onto her fingers and kept going.

Gob had started thrusting up to meet her, slowly, hitting a sweet spot now that she had leaned back.

The tension building in her snapped and she fell over the edge. Her head snapped back as her hips jerked, her fingers still working the orgasm out of her.

Gob’s speed had picked up as she came, his hips bouncing her up and then letting her fall back on him. Sarah felt like her legs had turned to jelly and she didn’t have the energy to keep riding him. 

Gob’s tee shirt had ridden up to his ribs, exposing scarred skin and an oblong divot where his navel had been. Sarah placed one hand on his chest and one on his stomach; the feel of his bare skin was divine. She brushed her thumb along next to his navel, feeling his abs twitch.

“God, Sarah!” Gob gasped. “Oh God! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Fuck!” He frantically pushed her off of him. Sarah pulled away quickly.

Gob reached between them and stroked himself half a dozen times before he came on his stomach with another gasp of “Fuck!”.

He collapsed into the pillows and draped his arm over his eyes, panting, trying to catch his breath. Sarah gazed down at him, avoiding looking lower than the bare skin of his stomach (he had asked her not to look). 

She liked being able to look at him without him getting antsy about it. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but she liked looking at him. He really did look exquisite like this: the way his chest and stomach rose and fell with each ragged breathe, the way his raised arm drew an elegant line all the way from his hip up to his elbow. He looked more relaxed than she had ever seen him and if that didn’t do all kinds of things to her emotions; he had said it was better this way, but she couldn’t help but think about how much this would have meant to him before. Not that it meant less to him now, but… 

She moved to lay by his side and pressed a kiss to the corner of his jaw. Gob uncovered his eyes and looked sideways at her.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” she said, smiling at him.

He grinned back and started to roll to his side, then remembered the mess on his stomach. “Oh, shit.”

“Here.” Sarah rolled over and got him a handkerchief from her nightstand. She kept her back to him, letting him clean himself up and get his pants back on.

“Sarah?”

She rolled back towards him.

“Do you…?” She giggled. “I was about to ask if you like to cuddle, but I know that already.”

Gob chuckled. “It would be weird if after sex was the only time I didn’t like cuddling.”

Gob rolled to his side and kissed her gently. He wrapped his arm around her; his hand splayed out between her shoulder blades and he pressed her chest into his.

“What are you sorry for, baby?” she asked.

He pulled back and gave her a quizzical look. “What’s that?”

She hesitated. Maybe she shouldn’t bring it up, but it was going to needle at her if she didn’t ask. “Right before you came, you said you were sorry.”

His eyes dropped away from her. “I…” He tipped his head down and hid his face against her neck. “Just because… I finished too quickly.”

“Oh.” Sarah stroked the back of his head, the wispy bits of his hair. 

Gob tensed and shook his head. “Don’t.”

“Sorry.” She dropped her hand to his back. “You don’t have to be sorry for coming so fast. I did, too, you know.”

“Hmm.”

“You don’t have to be sorry for that. And you don’t have to pull out next time.”

He leaned back to look at her again. He looked even more incredulous than when she had said she was in love with him.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You can’t get me pregnant, right?”

“Oh. Yeah. But… what about the radiation?”

“You don’t give off radiation. And I can take RadAway if I have to.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

She shimmied down and snuggled against his chest, kissing him through his shirt. He groaned softly, his chest rumbling quietly against her lips.

Gob stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

Sarah sighed. “You wanna take a little nap and then… maybe… go for round two?”

“Mmm.” He nodded. “I like that idea.”

Sarah kissed his chest one more time, then rolled over in his arms, pressing her back against him.

Gob’s fingers lazily trailed from her hip up to her breast and back down again. He let his hand slide forward to rest on her belly and shifted against her backside. He sighed and kissed the top of her head again.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” he whispered.

“Do what?”

“Just… this. Just… touching. Without worrying whether it’s going too far.”

She turned her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye. “Did you worry about that?”

He nodded. “Yeah. A lot, actually.”

Sarah rolled back to face him and kissed him on the lips. She laid her palm against his cheek, caressing his jaw and stroking her thumb over his cheekbone. Gob closed his eyes.

“I never meant for you to worry about that. I… I didn’t touch you to string you along or make you anxious. I only ever wanted to show you I cared about you."

"I know."

"I thought you enjoyed it.”

“I did,” he murmured. “I do.”

Sarah stroked his cheek again. 

He opened his eyes. They were full of so much warmth and love, Sarah felt like this was the first time she was really seeing them. Had he always looked at her like that? She loved his eyes. How had she never noticed?

He reached up and covered her hand with his. He kissed her palm, smiling against her skin.

He leaned in and kissed her again, then he brought her hand down to his groin.

The feel of him stiffening under her palm was extremely gratifying. He groaned as she rubbed her hand against him.

“Do you want to get on top this time?” she asked.

“Sure.” He was already undoing his belt again.

Gob pulled his belt off and dropped it onto the floor with a satisfying clunk.

Sarah reached across him and pulled the blanket over them, allowing him to climb on top of her and get his pants down without her being able to see. He instantly regretted having said he would get on top. Sarah’s face was so much closer to his in this position. He had always been of the opinion that Ghouls were best viewed at a distance. This wasn’t going to work, but he was too worked up to want to stop now.

Gob brushed his fingers through her pubic hair and swiped them through the slick between her thighs.

He shifted his weight and settled above her, propping himself up on his elbows.

Sarah reached between them to guide his cock into her. Gob panicked for a moment.

“I’m not looking,” she said.

“Okay,” he exhaled.

He sank into her, letting a moan escape from him as he did.

Sarah squeezed him, pulling at him. His jaw went slack.

She had made good on her promise to fuck him into the mattress. She had ridden him harder and faster than he had expected her to; he was going to try to be a little slower and gentler this time. He didn’t just want to fuck her; he wanted to make love to her.

Sarah slipped her hand between them again and started rubbing at her clitoris. Gob put all his weight on one arm and replaced her fingers with his thumb, stroking her slowly.

Sarah moaned and closed her eyes. She grabbed hold of the back of his tee shirt, twisting and pulling at the fabric. Something about that was also extremely arousing, despite her not really touching him by doing that.

He was getting close and she wasn’t done yet.

He started worrying. The worry wormed its way into his thoughts.

He worried he would be done too soon twice in a row, and wasn’t that humiliating? He worried that his skin was too rough, that he was hurting her without meaning to. He worried that she had lied, or was mistaken, and she wouldn’t be able to finish looking at the mess of his face (never mind that she had orgasmed once already; that could have been a fluke). 

He worried that he had forgotten how to make love to a woman, that he was every kind of inadequate. He could feel his erection fading, feeding further into the anxiety.

He slipped out of her. He tried to guide his cock back in, but he was too soft. He stroked himself a few times, trying to get hard again, before attempting to sink back into her, unsuccessfully.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m just… nervous.”

Sarah stroked her thumbs over his cheekbones. She reached her face up and kissed him gently.

Gob kept stroking himself, trying to get himself hard again. Sarah ground against his hand as he did, making little mewling sounds of pleasure.

The longer he tried to get himself up again, the more frustrated he became, the more his body resisted his efforts. He’d had plenty of erections when he didn’t want them, but now he couldn’t get one when he desperately wanted it. Cruel, stupid irony.

“I could suck you, if you want,” Sarah offered.

He stopped and looked up at her, checking to make sure she was serious. He shook his head. “No.”

“Just… you don’t need to be hard for that.”

He shook his head again.

“Okay. So... what do you want to do?”

He sighed and then shrugged.

“Do you want to stop?”

“No!”

“Okay. Do you want…?” Sarah thought. “You can hold me while I get myself off and then we can switch places.”

Gob frowned. “Just… masturbate in front of each other?”

“Is it really masturbating if there’s another person involved?”

“I guess not.”

“Here.” She started piling the bedding against the headboard. “Do you want to switch to pajama pants? You’d probably be more comfortable.”

“Yeah. Good idea.”

Gob got out of bed and opened his drawer of the dresser. He pushed his jeans and boxers off and stepped out of them, leaving them in a puddle of discarded clothing on the floor.

He glanced over at Sarah. She was on her back in the bed, her right hand slowly caressing her vulva, her left arm draped over her eyes, making a point of not looking at him. 

He was a little disappointed; he didn’t want her to see him, but he wanted her to want to see him. 

He considered just getting back in bed as is. Fuck it. She said she loved him and she _had_ seen him (mostly) naked before. 

He decided against it as he stared down at his bare thighs: he barely wanted to look at him; he wasn’t going to subject her to that. He pulled on a pair of flannel pajama pants and climbed back into bed.

Sarah moved her arm from over her eyes. She smiled at him, effervescent and effusive. He sat back against the bedding Sarah had piled up on the headboard and she sat between his legs, leaning back into his chest.

He felt his cock stiffening again, much to his relief and annoyance. Without the performance anxiety, it was ready to go, but he didn’t want to risk deflating again as soon as he got back inside her. He knew he would as soon as he got stuck back in his own head. He could wait his turn for now.

Sarah leaned back against Gob’s chest. He felt solid and warm behind her. She was pretty close already. It would only take a minute to finish up.

She guided Gob’s hands to her breasts. He squeezed gently and then rolled her nipples between his thumb and forefinger.

Sarah rubbed circles over her clitoris. She wanted to still be fucking Gob, but this would do.

“Can I borrow your hand for a second?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

She took his hand and brought it down between her legs, pressing the tips of two of his fingers inside her.

Gob groaned into her ear. He slid his fingers in and out slowly.

“I’m so close, babe,” she whispered to him.

She felt him shudder. She could feel his erection against her back. He could go back to fucking her if he wanted when she finished.

She clenched around his fingers; they were so much bigger than her own, and the rough texture of them was sublime.

He curled his fingers as he pulled them out, beckoning her orgasm forward.

She gasped his name and came undone, her back arching, her head snapping back. For an instant, she worried she might have hurt Gob thrashing against him, but his fingers were still going and he was rutting slightly against her back. 

Sarah took his wrist to stop the motion of his hand. 

“That was so fucking good, babe.”

“Hmm.”

She glanced over her shoulder to see Gob had his fingers in his mouth.

She chuckled.

“Do you want to switch places? Or do you want to go back to fucking me?”

“Let’s switch.”

Sarah pushed herself up. She got a couple more clean handkerchiefs from her nightstand - one she used to clean herself up, the other she handed to Gob - and sat against the headboard.

Gob leaned back against her, his head on her chest. Sarah had foregone the blanket - she thought Gob would enjoy the view and it was too warm anyway - but Gob covered himself up before pushing his pants down and starting to stroke himself.

Sarah was disappointed. She understood: he had spent a long time being told his body was unpleasant, ugly, unnatural; it would take more than one roll in the hay to undo that damage. But she still wanted to see him naked, and for him to trust her enough to let her.

She wanted to see him both for her own enjoyment but also for personal edification. She wanted to see how he touched himself so she would know how he liked to be touched. But she could deal with not seeing, with not knowing, if that’s what Gob wanted. At least for now.

Sarah ran her hands over his chest. 

He was using both hands to work himself and she was mesmerized by the sight of him arching into his hands, by the way his brow furrowed and his eyes scrunched shut under the effort of getting himself off.

“You look good like that, baby,” she whispered to him.

“Bullshit,” he said without hesitation, but his voice quavered.

She ran her hands over his biceps and squeezed them. The muscles in his arms tensed and strained.

“You do. You look so good. And watching you come earlier? That was hot as fuck. I could watch that every god damn day.”

His breath hitched.

“Will you let me see you like that again?”

“Sarah!” he whined.

“Do you want me to stop or keep talking?”

“Keep talking.”

“Do you want me to tell you how good your cock feels? Or your fingers? Because they’re both incredible.”

Sarah had started twisting and pulling at Gob’s tee shirt again, her nails gently raking across his chest.

“Sarah,” he gasped. “Sarah, please!”

“I’m right here, baby. I’ve got you. What do you need?”

She squeezed her thighs against his sides and rubbed circles across his chest.

“I…” He went taut, then collapsed gasping against her. “Fuck,” he whispered.

“You look so fucking good like that,” she murmured to him.

He huffed a laugh, but didn’t argue with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parts of this were cannibalized from another fic that I posted and then took down almost immediately.


	4. We Could Just...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter to end this installment  
> Sarah talks to Charon the following day

Sarah woke up slowly, dreamily, with Gob’s arms still around her. She rolled over, trying not to wake him.

He didn’t open the bar until ten, so he didn’t need to be up until eight. Having him still be there when she woke up was wonderful, and knowing he was getting at least six hours of sleep every night was even better. She would have been happier if he got eight, but Gob and Charon both insisted that Ghouls didn’t need as much sleep as smoothskins.

Sarah eased herself out of Gob’s embrace and got out of bed. She padded down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Charon was standing at the counter, pouring himself a cup of coffee. She stopped; she didn’t want to startle him. After over a year of living together, she knew it was never a good idea to sneak up on him.

She waited until he had finished taking his meds, then she said, “Just stand there, because I’m going to hug you.”

He harrumphed, but stood still, taking another sip of coffee.

Sarah stepped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his back. He put his hand on her forearm.

“Thank you,” she said.

Charon turned around in her arms and rested his chin on top of her head.

“I take it your talk with Gob went well.”

“Better than expected. You’re an absolute bastard. I hope you know that.”

“I’m a bastard even though it went better than expected?”

“Yes. One hundred percent. But I love you for it.”

“Fine.” He took a sip of coffee over her head.

“Charon? If I… If I fuck this up, I want you to know, it’s not your fault. Even if I blame you when it happens.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

Sarah released her hold on him and went to get her own coffee.

“I’m happy for you two,” Charon said.

“You are?”

“Yeah. Of course I am. Do you know how infuriating it’s been watching the two of you?”

Sarah shook her head. “I can’t even imagine.”

Gob came into the kitchen, stretching and yawning. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Charon said, hiding a smirk behind his mug.

Gob grinned, a goofy smile that widened as he looked from Charon to Sarah.

“Here you go, babe,” Sarah said, handing him a coffee cup.

“Thanks.” He kissed her on the lips. “What are you thinking for breakfast? Eggs? I can make eggs.”

Charon snickered.

“Quiet you.”

He held up his hands as if to say, “I didn’t say anything.”

“I can help you make eggs,” Sarah said. “Charon, you want an omelette?”

He nodded. “You know what I like,” he said, and went to sit in the living room.

Sarah and Gob moved around each other as they made breakfast, like they did on plenty of other mornings. It was strange how little had changed, how their relationship was still basically the same. But, at the same time, everything was different.

She felt giddy every time she looked at him. It felt ridiculous. It had been less than a full 24 hours, but it already felt like they had always been together. She couldn’t remember any other relationship feeling like this. Not even with Amata; not even after two years.

Maybe they could make this work after all.


End file.
